by Barb Han
Kate did.
Dallas cradled the wounded woman’s head and neck in his free hand. “Stay with me, Stacy,” he said. “Help is almost here.”
“I loved him,” she said, and the words were difficult to make out.
“I know you did. And he loved you, too,” Dallas replied, trying to comfort her. He was never more thankful than when an emergency team showed up and went to work on her.
The gunshot wound in her shoulder was deep and she’d lost a lot of blood. As the EMT strapped her to a gurney and another placed an oxygen mask over her nose and mouth, Dallas heard them reassure her that she was going to be fine.
And Dallas finally exhaled. He palmed his phone and called Tommy with a quick explanation of what had just gone down.
The lawman agreed to take their statements personally and said he’d let the deputy who was about to arrive on the scene know the details. “Do not visit Safe Haven.”
Dallas contemplated his friend’s suggestion. Tommy was right. “I won’t. I’m bringing Kate to the station.”
“Good,” Tommy said, ending the call.
“Let’s get out of here,” Dallas said to Kate.
She didn’t utter a word as they made their way back to her vehicle, and he suspected she was in shock.
“I’m driving to my truck first,” he stated, as he fired up the engine. “And then I’m going to drop you off at the sheriff’s office, where you’ll be safe.”
“That was horrible,” Kate murmured, obviously still stunned and trying to process everything that had just happened.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have brought you here.” Dallas half expected her to curse him out for putting her in danger.
“It’s not your fault, and I can’t go back to the station until we figure this out,” she said. “So where are we heading next?”
“We have no idea where those men could be or why they left,” he said. “You’re going back to the sheriff’s office.”
Gripping the steering wheel, Dallas noticed the blood on his hands. Anger surged through him that he hadn’t been able to stop Stacy from being shot. No way would he put Kate in further danger. She could argue all she wanted, but he was taking her back to Tommy.
Then Dallas had to fill his brothers in on the situation, so he could hide her at the ranch.
He had every intention of helping Kate and Jackson, so he needed to have a family meeting to figure out how best to proceed. It wouldn’t be fair to put at risk anyone who wasn’t comfortable with that.
And Dallas might have a target on his own back now that he’d stirred up an investigation into Safe Haven. That would bring more heat to the ranch—heat that he had no doubt they’d be able to handle.
His cell buzzed. Dallas took one hand off the wheel to fish it out of his pocket.
“Would you mind answering that and putting the call on speaker?” He handed his phone to Kate.
She took it and did as he asked.
“This is Dallas and you’re on speaker with me and Kate,” he said.
“Where are you?” Tommy asked, and Dallas immediately picked up on the underlying panic in his friend’s calm tone.
“Heading toward Main to get my pickup. Why?” Dallas asked, an ominous feeling settling over him.
“Someone just tried to break into my office,” the sheriff said. “Jackson is okay. He didn’t get to him.”
Kate gasped. Dallas didn’t need to look at her to know her eyes were wild, just like they’d been earlier that morning.
“What happened?” he asked, glancing at her before making the next left. His pickup could wait. Based on Kate’s tense expression, she needed to get to her son and see for herself that he wasn’t harmed.
“He’s safe,” Tommy reiterated. “I have him in protective custody and I promise no one will get to him on my watch.”
The desperate look Kate gave Dallas sent a lead fireball swirling through him.
* * *
“WE’RE ON OUR WAY,” Dallas said. “Did you find anything at the Morton crime scene?”
“Nothing yet. It’ll take a while to process and it could be days or weeks before we get anything back from analysis,” Tommy said truthfully.
Kate had had so many other questions—questions about the man sitting in the driver’s seat beside her—all of which died on her tongue the second she’d heard that Jackson was in danger.
Dallas couldn’t drive fast enough to get her to the station so she could see her son. Her brain was spinning and her heart beat furiously, but more than anything her body ached to hold her baby.
Dallas thanked the sheriff and asked her to end the call.
Whoever was after them had proved at Morton’s office just how dangerous they could be. People were being shot right before her eyes, not to mention turning up dead. She and Dallas had barely survived another blitz-like attack, this time with guns.
The thought of men like that being after her baby was almost too much to process at once. It was surreal.
She remembered them asking if “he” was there. Did they mean Jackson? If so, they must’ve realized he wasn’t with her.
Nothing could happen to her little boy. He was more than her son; he’d been her heart from the moment the adoption liaison had placed him in her arms. The thought of anyone trying to take him away from her, especially after how hard she’d fought to get him, was enough to boil her blood.
“Why would they want to harm an innocent little baby?” she fumed.
“They don’t. I know how bad things look right now, but even if they got to Jackson, and they won’t, they wouldn’t hurt him.”
“How can you be so sure? People are being shot, killed,” she countered.
“Think about it. Hurting him doesn’t make sense. A few of the other babies have been returned. My guess is that someone is looking for their child, a child they very much want,” Dallas said.
He was right.
Logic was beginning to take hold.
And yet that didn’t stop her blood from scorching.
“A stray bullet could’ve killed him,” she said.
Dallas agreed.
“How much longer until we get there?” She didn’t recognize any of the streets yet. Not that she’d been anywhere aside from home and downtown at the soup kitchen in the six months she’d been in Bluff. There had been a couple of donor parties, but most of them were lined up in the future. The Halloween Bash at the ranch that she’d been invited to was next on the agenda, but the last thing she could think about was a party.
“I’m taking a back road, so I can make sure we aren’t being followed, and because this should shave off a few minutes.” He floored the gas pedal, pushing her car to its limit. “We’ll be there in five.”
“I’m scared,” she said, hating how weak her voice sounded.
“I know,” he murmured—all he had to say to make her feel she wasn’t alone. “Jackson is in good hands.”
“They tried to…”
She couldn’t finish, couldn’t face the harsh reality that someone was this determined to find her son and take him away from her.
“We know whoever is behind this is capable of horrendous acts,” Dallas said. “But they wouldn’t hurt Jackson even if they could get to him, which they can’t and they won’t.”
“You said it before and you’re right,” she admitted, and it brought a little relief. Still, the idea that Jackson could be taken away and she might never see him again, when he was the very thing that had breathed life into her, was unthinkable.
Kate might not have been deemed “medically desirable” by nature—wasn’t that the phrase the infertility specialist had used?—but she was born to be a mother. She’d stayed awake the entire first night with Jackson while he’d slept in her arms. And it hadn’t mattered to her heart one bit that she hadn’t been the one to deliver him—Jackson was her son in every way that mattered.
Being a mother was the greatest joy.
And no one—no one—got to
take that away from her.
Dallas pulled into the parking lot of the sheriff’s office. His set jaw said he was on a mission, too. And it was so nice that someone had her back for a change. Carter had been her lifeline before, but even he’d had his doubts about her plans, and she never saw her brother since leaving the business.
She also knew that Dallas had questions of his own about Safe Haven. Supposedly for a friend but she wondered if that was true. No matter how many times she’d thought about the kiss they’d shared this morning, she was keenly aware of the fact that this man had secrets.
As soon as the car stopped, Kate unbuckled her seat belt.
“Hold on there,” Dallas warned. “Someone might be waiting out here.”
That could very well be true, but she was determined to see her son.
She practically flew through the door, Dallas was a step behind, and all eyes jumped to her.
“I’m sorry.” She held up a hand. “I didn’t mean to startle anyone. I’m looking for my son.”
At that moment, she heard Jackson cry from somewhere down the hall and she moved toward the sweet sound of her baby.
Abigail met her halfway and handed Jackson over, and then Dallas was suddenly by her side, just as Tommy appeared from his office.
“Hold on. I need to call my brothers,” he said, stepping inside a room while digging out his cell.
He returned a few minutes later with a nod.
“I need to get him out of here,” Kate said. “And to someplace safe.”
“You can’t take him home.” The sheriff didn’t sound like he was disagreeing so much as ruling out possibilities.
“She can take him to my place,” Dallas said. “I just had a quick conversation with my brothers about it. They don’t have a problem with the arrangement.”
Tommy looked to be seriously contemplating the idea.
“I don’t want to put your family at risk,” Kate argued.
“I can put you in a safe house but it might take a little time,” the lawman said. “You’d be welcome to stay here in the office in the meantime.”
“My place is better,” Dallas protested as he shifted his weight. “You already know how tight security is.”
“I advised you on every aspect of it,” Tommy agreed. “But—”
Dallas’s hand came up. “It’s perfect and you know it. There’s no safer place in Bluff right now. My family is fine with the risk.”
Kate hesitated, trying to think if she had another option. She could go to her brother’s house, but it was nearly a four-hour drive and he had no security. Also, she might be placing him in danger. Ditto for her parents’ home. She couldn’t risk her family, and honestly, she’d have so much explaining to do it wasn’t worth the effort.
No, if these guys were bold enough to strike at the sheriff’s office, then they would stop at nothing to get to Jackson.
At least for now, she had no other options but to stay with Dallas until a proper safe house could be set up. Jackson’s security was the most important thing to her and had to take precedence over her internal battle about whether or not spending time with the strong and secretive cowboy was a good idea for her personally.
“I’m all for any place we can keep Jackson safe,” she said to the sheriff. “If you think this is a good idea.”
Tommy nodded.
“Then let’s go back to the ranch,” she said.
The sheriff shot a look toward Dallas that Kate couldn’t get a good read on. What was up with that?
She didn’t care. The only thing she was focused on at this point was her son. And ensuring that he didn’t end up in the hands of very bad men. She held him tighter to her chest and he quieted at the sound of her voice as she whispered comforting words.
“Allen can go now, right?” she asked Tommy. “If the attacks are still happening while he’s locked up, then he can’t be involved.”
“A deputy is already processing his paperwork,” the sheriff said.
“It’s been a very long day and I’d like to get out of here,” she said to Dallas. Then she turned toward Tommy. “Are you okay with us leaving?”
“Go. Get some rest. We’re trying to track down your lawyer to bring him in for questioning. So far, he isn’t answering our calls.” Tommy paused. “Also, you should know that we’re planning to send a deputy to talk to your family members.”
“My family?” she echoed, not able to hide her shock.
“It’s routine in cases like this,” he said. “We take the ‘no stone left unturned’ approach to investigations.”
Oh. Kate tried to process that, but it was all too much and she was experiencing information overload. She needed a few quiet hours to focus on feeding Jackson and allow everything that had happened that day to sink in. Even though it was only four o’clock in the afternoon, she was exhausted. A warm shower and comfortable pajamas sounded like pure heaven to her right then.
“And it might be better if they don’t know we’re coming,” Tommy said, and the implication hit her square in the chest.
“Surely you don’t think…” No way could her family be involved. She held on to Jackson tighter. They had their differences about the adoption, but they were still family.
“I won’t take anything for granted,” the lawman said.
Dallas’s strong hand closed around her bent elbow, sending all kinds of heat through her arm. Heat that had no business fizzing through her body and settling between her thighs.
Dallas O’Brien was a complete stranger, and since that scenario had worked out so well the first time she’d broken her rules for someone, she decided no amount of chemistry was worth falling down another rabbit hole like that. But she wasn’t fool enough to refuse his help.
He urged her toward the door and then to the car, surveying the area as they walked out.
She buckled Jackson into his seat and slid next to him in the back.
A few seconds later they were on the road again, but this time Dallas drove the speed limit and she appreciated the extra care he was taking with her son in the car.
If Dallas O’Brien was a father, and she figured that had to be the real reason he was investigating Safe Haven, then he was going to be a great one. He already had all the protective instincts down.
She could only imagine what horrible circumstance had brought him the need to hire a private investigator, but decided not to let her imagination run wild. Especially when she kept circling back to that kiss and the fizz of chemistry that continued to crackle between them.
Because another thought quickly followed. How could a man who obviously loved his family so much allow his own child to be adopted? The question helped her see how precious little she knew about the magnetic cowboy. And even if she could risk the attraction on her own behalf, she’d never be able to go down that road now that she had a baby.
“Is there anything Tommy should know about your family?” Dallas asked, his voice a low rumble that set butterflies free in her stomach.
“You already know they don’t support my decision to bring up a child alone,” she said softly. “Our relationship has been strained since my divorce, and my mother sees this—” she motioned toward Jackson “—as me adding insult to injury.”
In the rearview mirror, she could see Dallas’s eyebrows spike. She could also see how his thick dark eyelashes framed his dark brown eyes, and her heart stirred in a way she’d never experienced.
She ignored that, too.
Besides, they’d dodged bullets and he’d saved her son. Of course she’d feel a certain amount of admiration and respect because of that, and a draw to his strength. That was normal in such a situation, right?
“I’m sorry about your folks. Everyone should have love and support from their family, even if they don’t agree with your choices.”
“My mom has never been the type to give up that kind of control,” Kate said, trying to make a joke, but recognizing that the words came out carrying the pain she felt inst
ead. “Sorry—you don’t want to hear about this.”
“I do,” Dallas said so quickly she thought he meant it.
Why would he care about her family drama?
Kate didn’t talk about it with anyone. She figured she’d have to explain to Jackson one day why he didn’t have grandparents, but life for her was a “take one day at a time” commitment at the moment.
“That must be hard,” Dallas said.
And lonely, she added in her head. Thank the stars for the relationship she had with Carter, barren as it was now that she didn’t see him on a daily basis.
Speaking of which, she needed to call her brother as soon as Tommy gave her clearance.
Carter and she had forged a tight bond that had felt strained since Kate had said she was leaving the business they’d started. He had said he understood, but she knew down deep he’d been hurt by her decision.
“My brother and I were close growing up, and that helped,” she said, trying to gain control of her emotions before she started crying. Even though she knew that her mother’s rejection wasn’t her fault, it still stung.
“Brothers can be a blessing and a curse,” Dallas said, sounding like he was half joking.
She was grateful he seemed to take the cue that she needed a lighter mood. There was so much going on around them and she felt so out of control that she needed levity to help her get a handle on her emotions.
“That’s the truth,” she agreed, thinking about all those times her younger brother had annoyed her over the years.
She glanced down at Jackson. He was her sanity in this crazy, mixed-up world. He made her see that life was bigger than just her and her problems.
“I used to be so angry at my parents,” she said, finding love refilling her well, as it did every time she looked at her son.
“What changed?”
“Him.”
The surprised look on Dallas’s face caught her off guard. Because there was something else there in his expression. It was so familiar and yet she couldn’t quite put it into words. “Can I ask a personal question?” Kate murmured.
He nodded.
“Was Susan your girlfriend?”
“Yes. A while back,” he admitted. He took a hard right turn and there was a security gate with a guard.
